Ran At Newport Bermuda Race Start (Photo by George Bekris )

The Newport Bermuda Race fleet made their upwind starts in 16 classes over a period of more than two and a half hours on Friday afternoon. There now are 183 boats, after Avatar didn’t start. In addition, Blue sailed back to the shipyard to get her broken centerboard cable fixed; she’s expected to start again after the repair.

The start found some skippers were surprisingly aggressive. Apparently forgetting that this isn’t a day race but a 635-mile marathon running several days, they also seem to have experienced a touch of amnesia about the tide table.  As the new ebb tide ran with every great velocity out of Narragansett Bay, it pushed them inexorably toward Bermuda, but also over the starting line a little earlier than their tacticians had planned.

Of the 13 boats in Class 4 (St. David’s Light Division, 45-55 footers), four found themselves over early at the pin end, with Star Chaser getting what one of her crew called “the best start in the fleet” in an email to media@BermudaRace.com. “We were at the committee boat end of the line with some of the J-Boats but higher and faster. We all chose to be slightly late on the gun: no use being OCS  on a race of 635 nm!”

In Class 8 (St. David’s Light, 65-footers) two boats were premature. One was Aurora (with Gary Jobson in the afterguard), and she had to pick her way back to the line, losing at least three minutes in the process.

The current new on the Newport Bermuda Race  is that  Speedboat took the lead from Titan XV at sunset Friday night as the big 183-boat fleet raced toward Bermuda on a fast close reach in a flat sea, clear visibility, and a moderate southwest wind that gradually strengthened and clocked toward the west.  Two boats set Code Zeros.

For current boat positions click HERE

 Chris Museler reports from Titan XV:  a collision, a Code Zero, and a champagne wake

 Friday, 2045 EDT.  What an incredible day we’ve had! When I woke up to clear skies and glassy conditions, I knew the sea breeze was setting up nicely. After our delicious hot lunch aboard Tom and Dotty Hill’s Titan XIV, we set out in a relaxed mood, everyone smiling about the conditions. The spectators were all smiles and cheers. There were so many people camped out on the Castle Hill lawn that you couldn’t see any grass.

We started well to weather of the other mini maxis in Class 10 (Gibbs Hill Division) and from then until sunset (a few moments ago) it’s been champagne sailing conditions – sailing at 13-15 knots in a steady wind.   We’ve been the lead boat for a few hours, but now as it’s getting dark, Speedboat is passing us to leeward.  She started at 4:30, an hour after we did, and it’s now after 8.  Rán (in our class) isn’t far behind.

At about 5:30 we hit a large marine animal of some kind.  It may have been a basking shark, maybe as long as 20 feet. The hit was soft and we almost stopped. The fish made a few squiggles, spun off, and swam away in our wake.  The boat appears to be undamaged.

We’ve switched to a Code Zero, and as our grinders are getting busy they look a lot bigger than before. Mark Strube, who finished second at the Star Class Europeans two weeks ago, is 250 pounds of muscle.  The crew has just had dinner – hot rice and chicken with pineapple, which took an hour to cook in two large pots, plus the usual Snickers and Pringles for snacks . . . and apples, too.

More Photos Of The Newport Bermuda Race Start by George Bekris click HERE

 The leader for several hours was Titan XV, in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division. She was caught by Speedboat (Open Division, which started an hour later) at about 8:45 pm.  Other positions have been changing in the extremely competitive group of mini maxis sailing in the Gibbs Hill Division, with Hap Fauth’s Bella Mente overtaking Niklas Zennstrom’s Rán soon after midnight, and Rán then catching Rambler and Beau Geste in parking-lot conditions. The wind slowly faded during the night, swung into the north for a while. After dawn, two boats reported a very light breeze from the southeast, which is the course to Bermuda.  Later on Saturday morning the wind filled in nicely with a report of 15-plus knots, whitecaps, and the first sighting of cumulus clouds over the Gulf Stream ahead.  There also were reports of U.S. Navy exercises in the area of some boats.

By John Rousmaniere

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One Of The Classes Starting In Newport Bermuda Race 2008 (Photo by George Bekris)

Down in Bermuda, the best spot to watch the yachts finish in Bermuda is from the grounds of St. David’s Lighthouse. Visitors will find that the Finish Line Committee is very hospitable and depending on the finishing traffic, they may be invited up into the tower for a tour. It is a straight up climb and not for people afraid of heights. The view from the lawn is almost as good and worth the trip to St. David’s.

The HD Gateway Finish Line Cam is new for 2010.  From the high definition camera mounted on the St. David’s Lighthouse tower, finish line action will be streamed worldwide 24/7. Spectators can use iBoattrack to follow their boat of interest to the finish, then actually watch them cross the line when they arrive.

In Bermuda, digital spectators can watch boats finish from the comfort of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. A Gateway ‘SMART Board’ will be available for viewing in the Calabash Lounge and a smaller HD TV monitor will be available over the Terrace Bar.

 by Talbot Wilson

New Bermuda Race Entrants

The above list subject to change.

For More Photos of the Newport bermuda Race 2008 by George Bekris click  HERE

Newport Bermuda Race 2008 (Photo by George Bekris )

 From the June 18^th start in Newport to finish in Bermuda 635 miles later, this classic ocean race is almost a spectator sport.

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Genuine Risk At Maxi Rolex Cup 2004 (Photo by Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi)

After putting his signature on the sponsorship agreement, Mark Watson called his friend and North Sails advisor Ken Read and said, “Ken, I think I’ve gone and done something kooky.” Kenny replied, “Knowing you, I don’t think so, but tell me what you’ve done.”
 
Watson replied, “I’m going to sponsor and skipper Genuine Risk in the Bermuda Race.”
Read quipped back, “Now that’s kooky.”
 
Mark Watson is excited and anxious about this ride in the Newport Bermuda Race that starts June 18 in Newport Rhode Island. He has stepped up as the sponsor and skipper of the US Merchant Marine Academy cant-keel, offshore rocket, the Dubois 90 Genuine Risk.
 
No novice to offshore racing, Watson owns the Swan 42 Tiburon. He won the 2008 Swan 42 National Championship. Once again he is looking forward to racing with and against some of the best sailors in the world. It’s a genuine risk, just not the kind he is used to.
 
“This is really as close as we can get to a Corinthian campaign,” Watson said. “We are joining three racing teams, amateurs who have sailed with me before, a few pros who know the boat well to handle its complex systems and five Merchant Marine Academy cadets and one recent graduate who have also sailed her. This is my way of passing on the spirit of offshore yachting to the next generation.”
 
Newport Bermuda will be quite different for Watson. It has been one of his dreams to do the race. He has been invited, but unable to fit the time into his schedule as CEO of Argo Group, based in Bermuda.
 
“Fellow Royal Bermuda Yacht Club members had teased me about not doing the race.’ he remarked. “And after I sailed the Fastnet Race aboard the TP52 Lucky, I decided this was the year for Newport Bermuda.
 
Ben Nichols from Bermuda, who sails aboard Tiburon with Watson, will join him on the 90-footer. He commented on the adventure, his first Newport Bermuda Race. “I am very much looking forward to sailing aboard Genuine Risk with Mark, Nichols said. “Mark’s passion for sailing comes a close 3rd behind his family and his work as President and CEO of the Argo Group. “

 
“Despite my extensive sailing experience, this race aboard Genuine Risk will be my first ocean race, and what a boat to be doing it on!” Nichols said. “This radical boat was designed and built in 2004, but remains at the forefront of sailing technology today. The fleet assembling for the 2010 Newport Bermuda contains some of the World’s most talented sailors; a great friend of mine, Tim Powell is skipper of a race favorite Ran,” Nichols concluded, “so I hope we can beat them across the finish line even if it is not on corrected time!”
 
Jim Marshall will be the navigator. Marshall has a lengthy sailing CV and worked for North Sails from 1976 through 1984 and for Ockham Instruments from 1984 to 1995. He was part of the Young America team for the America’s Cup challenge in 2000. Since then, Jim has regained his amateur status and has been navigator and trimmer for some top amateur racing projects. He has sailed eighteen Newport Bermuda Races, four Fastnets, a Trans Pac, Admiral’s Cups and much more.
 
Andreas Josenhans joins the crew as a project manager and watch captain. He is busy in the last days before the race, putting the crew together and making sure the boat is measured, inspected, ready and provisioned for the race. Andreas. a world-class keelboat racer in the likes of Solings, Stars, and Etchells, is a North sailmaker by trade.  
 
Ralfie Steitz, sailing director for the Merchant Marine Academy, will also be aboard with five cadets and one recent graduate. Steitz named some of the crewmembers, “Charlie Enright was a watch captain on Morning Light in the TransPac and brings valuable offshore experience to the team. Mitch White from Australia is a talented and experienced bowman. Peter Tans is the electronics expert who will keep the power on and the canting keel’s computer running.”
 
Ralfie comment on the speed potential for Genuine Risk. “During the recent delivery from Ft. Lauderdale to Baltimore,” he said, “the shorthanded crew using delivery sails in a cruising mode guided Genuine Risk to over 650 miles in under two days. With the right wind that translates into a record run to Bermuda,”

Genuine Risk will have to out-smart and out-sail some big, tough competition in the Open Division. Alex Thomson’s 100 foot long Speedboat, first to finish in 2008, hopes to repeat this year in record time. Ken Read on the V70, Il Mostro [Puma], that was second overall in the Volvo Ocean Race, has the race record in sight as well. The Open Division record was set in 2004 by Hasso Plattner’s Morning Glory with a time of 48 hours, 28 minutes and 31 seconds.

by Talbot Wilson

Genuine Risk (Photo Courtesy of Dubois Yachts)

Photo courtesy of Dubois Yachts. More information about Genuine Risk can be found at http://www.duboisyachts.com/Yachts/GenuineRisk/

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Sinn Fein (Photo Courtesy Of PPL Photo Agency)

As more than 180 crews prepare for the start of this year’s  635-mile Newport Bermuda Race on June 18, the big question is can Peter S. Rebovich Sr. and his Sinn Fein crew chalk up a record 3-in-a-row Lighthouse trophies?

  The victorious Sinn Fein crew in 2008. Can they make  it 3-in-a-row in 2010? From left to right Foster Tallman, Henry Henning, Mark Rebovich, Peter S. Rebovich Sr., Peter S Rebovich Jr., Kelly Robinson and Gary Gochal.

Dateline 7. 06. 2010: The Newport Bermuda Race is hard enough to win once, But twice? In 46 races since 1906, just three yachts have won the major prize, – the St David’s Lighthouse Trophy – at least two times. A pair of these won consecutive races – Carleton Mitchell’s fabled Finisterre in 1956-60 and, in the two most recent races in 2006 and 2008, Peter S. Rebovich’s Sinn Fein, from New Jersey’s Raritan Yacht Club. Rebovich and his usual crew will be back again this year with the gleam of a third St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy in their eyes.

How does this 45-year old stock Cal 40 sloop do so well, so often against much newer and more sophisticated custom boats?  The explanation is that this is a happy marriage of a good boat to an able amateur crew that has been racing her for decades.  During Finisterre’s glory days half a century ago, one of her regular crew credited Mitchell’s “good admiralship” – meaning his cheerful but firm, detail-driven, open-minded command of a deeply loyal crew.  The same can be said of Pete Rebovich and his guys.

Crew of Sinn Fein (Photo Courtesy Of Sinn Fein Crew)

One thing that cannot be said about them is that they’re riding a brief lucky streak. When Sinn Fein first raced offshore in the Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race in the 1980s, she won class and family prizes. She’s sailed six Newport Bermuda Races, paying her dues with low finishes before winning her class in 2002 and 2004 and then taking the St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy, first in a drifter in a glassy sea in 2006, followed by a classic upwind thrash to the Onion Patch in 2008.  Over Memorial Day weekend, she won her class in the 2010 Block Island Race, the major tune-up for the Bermuda Race.
Sinn Fein has also won the Olin J. Stephens Ocean Racing Trophy three times straight – in fact, the only times it has been presented – for the best combined performance in successive Newport Bermuda Races and Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Races. Rebovich has a special memory of winning the first Stephens Trophy because the presentation of the award to the 70-year-old winning skipper was made by 99-year-old Olin Stephens himself. “We won, and while I was hobbling to the stage to meet him and receive the trophy, he commented, ‘Isn’t it nice to see an old guy, like me, still out there racing – and winning‘“.

By John Rousmaniere

Divisions and prizes:

 There are five divisions. The St David’s Lighthouse Trophy is awarded to the top boat in the race’s largest and most historic division, which is for amateur crews. The Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Trophy goes to the winner of the professional division. The Cruiser Division winner is awarded the Carleton Mitchell Finisterre Trophy. First prize in the Double-Handed Division is the Moxie Trophy, given in memory of Philip S. Weld.  The winner of the Open Division (for cant-keelers) is presented with the Royal Mail Trophy. In addition, the top boat under the IRC Rule receives the North Rock Beacon Trophy.
There also are prizes for first to finish, the winning navigator and family participation, plus the famous Galley Slave Trophy for the cook in the last boat to finish.

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